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5 Tips for Presenting to Executives

Executives are the Simon Cowell of the business world: impatient, critical, often caustic. But they're also desperately searching for talent. How do you make the right impression? These 5 tips will get you started

Thanks! Am working now with my team, designing complete communication platform for a non-profit in Europe. You've given good, basic tips to help them prepare the presentation to the CEO and explain why he has to invest real money to manage his business efficiently and grow his membership base.

@pereismail Nizar - good observation. It is possible to waste an exec's time upfront by belaboring a problem or building a vision. On the other hand, building the vision is a necessary first step to getting to your main point and the best advice is to use that time efficiently, not lingering on the vision longer than necessary. Here's a blog post demonstrating an effective way to open an exec presentation by building a vision.

“I’m here to present our
marketing plan. Now, as you can see from this SWOT Analysis, our strengths are in technical support and integration with existinginfrastructure. Our weaknesses are in perceived cost and perceived technology lock-in. Next slide please.Awareness is trending up over the past four quarters, but… “STOP!”

FOCUS ON PROBLEMS THAT WILL
AFFECTTHEM OVER THE NEXT THREE YEARSAND HOW THEY’LL WIN IN THE MARKETPLACE “Customer satisfaction is down about 3% this quarter.” “If we’re going to grow 15% over the next three years, we need to hold onto our existing customers.” “I agree. What do you recommend?”

HOW ARE YOU GOING TO
HELP THEMSELL FASTER?RETAIN EXISTING CUSTOMERS?CAPTURE NEW CUSTOMERS?INCREASE CUSTOMER SATISFACTION?REACH NEW MARKETS?DEFEND HIGHER MARGINS?TAKE THE COMPETITOR’S CUSTOMERS?FIND NEW DISTRIBUTORS?CREATE DIFFERENTIATED PRODUCTS?

HOW ARE YOU GOING TO
HELP THEMSELL FASTER?RETAIN EXISTING CUSTOMERS?CAPTURE NEW CUSTOMERS?INCREASE CUSTOMER SATISFACTION?REACH NEW MARKETS?DEFEND HIGHER MARGINS?TAKE THE COMPETITOR’S CUSTOMERS?FIND NEW DISTRIBUTORS?CREATE DIFFERENTIATED PRODUCTS?NOT JUST SOLVE TODAY’S PROBLEMS

NEW PRESENTERS MAKE A BIG
MISTAKETHEY ARE IN A HURRY TO TALK ABOUT WHATTHEY WANT TO DO BEFORE THE EXEC ISBOUGHT INTO THE VISION “We need to invest $1 million in a big public relations push.” “One million? That’s a lot of money.”

EXECS ARE BIG PICTURE PEOPLETHEY
WANT TO KNOW WHY BEFOREGETTING TO THE DETAILS “Yes. Shudder Chapstick is the agency of record. They aren’t cheap.” “What about WBBC? They’d probably do it for half.”

“The press is ripping us
apart. Our sales guys say it’s really slowing the sales cycle.” “So what are we going to do about it?” “We need to get some of the key papers on our side. Like the Wall Street Journal and USA Today.” “Good thought.” “We’ve found an agency withgood contacts at both papers. We can probably have features printed within 4 weeks.”

NOW THE EXEC IS READY
TOMOVE INTO THE DETAILS “We’ve found an agency with good contacts at both papers. We can probably have features printed within 4 weeks.” “DO IT! GO!”

THEY KNOW DATA IS OFTEN
INCORRECT,INCOMPLETE OR EVEN BIASEDSO THEY LISTEN TO THEIR OWN INSTINCTSWHEN MAKING BIG STRATEGIC DECISIONS

THEY KNOW DATA IS OFTEN
INCORRECT,INCOMPLETE OR EVEN BIASEDSO THEY LISTEN TO THEIR OWN INSTINCTSWHEN MAKING BIG STRATEGIC DECISIONS “What are CUSTOMERS saying?”

THEY KNOW DATA IS OFTEN
INCORRECT,INCOMPLETE OR EVEN BIASEDSO THEY LISTEN TO THEIR OWN INSTINCTSWHEN MAKING BIG STRATEGIC DECISIONS “What are CUSTOMERS saying?” “What are COMPETITORS doing?”

THEY KNOW DATA IS OFTEN
INCORRECT,INCOMPLETE OR EVEN BIASEDSO THEY LISTEN TO THEIR OWN INSTINCTSWHEN MAKING BIG STRATEGIC DECISIONS “What are CUSTOMERS saying?” “What are COMPETITORS doing?” “What do our LARGEST PARTNERS think?”

SO LEAD WITH STORIES THATAPPEAL
TO GUT INSTINCTS “Our biggest partner is getting into this space.” “I know Al. He’s a smart guy.”USE DATA TO BACK IT UP “This study shows customer interest is increasing.” “Maybe we need to be doing something here.”

BUT DON’T LET EXECS INTIMIDATE
YOUAND RATTLE YOUR PRESENTATIONINSTEAD, BE AFRAID FOR THEMAND SHOW HOW YOURPROJECT CAN PROTECT THEMFROM THE THINGS THEY FEAR

BELIEVE IT OR NOTEXECS HAVE
A LOT TO FEARFEAR OF FAILUREFEAR OF DEMOTIONFEAR OF LEGAL ACTIONFEAR OF EMBARASSMENTFEAR OF EMPLOYEE LEAKSFEAR OF BAD INVESTMENTSFEAR OF LOSS OF REPUTATIONFEAR OF A TEAM MEMBER SCREWING UP

SUMMARY5 TIPS FOR PRESENTING TO
EXECUTIVES#1 GET TO THE POINT IN ONE MINUTE#2 TALK ABOUT PROBLEMS WINNING IN THE MARKETPLACE#3 SELL A VISION BEFORE DISCUSSING THE DETAILS tips for presenting to#4 LEAD WITH STORIES, NOT DATA EXECUTIVES#5 DON’T BE AFRAID OF EXECUTIVES. BE AFRAID FOR THEM